Social Security Myths Are Attack On Government

February 16, 1997|The Morning Call

To the Editor:

The Morning Call's Feb. 9 editorial attacks President Clinton's budget as inadequate to reduce spending on entitlement programs like Social Security and health care. I also disagree with the President's budget, but not for his failure to cut more deeply into programs for the poor and elderly. I disagree with his failure to pry resources from the grip of the wealthy to help ordinary citizens.

In the current massive political and corporate assault on "government," beginning with Reaganomics in the early 1980s, right-wing myths flood the media blaming government policies for the many economic and social problems facing the country.

One of the dominant myths to gain currency is that "Social Security is going to go bankrupt." The attack on Social Security is part of the overall attack on government programs that serve people. But Social Security produces a surplus and will do so for many years. Forecasts of distant threats are based on dubious assumptions about future productivity, income growth, the retiree-worker ratio and the relevant tax base and tax rates.

A second great myth, mentioned by The Morning Call, is that "The consumer price index (CPI) overstates inflation." Cutting the index back, as is being proposed, is just a politically expedient way of reducing Social Security benefits by cutting the cost of living increases. Even the Bureau of Labor Statistics hasn't consented to this proposed radical statistical surgery on the CPI. In fact, some economists believe a good case can be made that the CPI understates inflation.

The idea that Social Security, health care and programs to help the poor are no longer affordable and must be cut back is preposterous. The top 1 percent of the United States owns 40 percent of the wealth (double what it was in 1976). Profits are at an all-time high, yet corporations contribute just 10 percent of total tax revenues (it was 33 percent in the 1950s). This huge transfer of wealth upwards puts pressure on the programs for ordinary citizens. The process must be reversed.